Indus Valley symbols found in Kerala

A rock engraving similar to the unique sign of the Indus Valley civilization — a man with a jar — has been found in Kerala for the first time.

The engraving provides a significant southern link with the 600-year-old Indus Valley civilization that flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian sub-continent between 2300 BC and 1700 BC. Harappa and Mohenjodaro, both now in Pakistan, were the principal towns of the developed urban civilization discovered in the 1920s.

The Dravidian or an equally vibrant civilization existed in southern India during this period, historians said.

The engraving seems to have been made with a stone axe in a linear style to portray a two-dimensional human figure. It was discovered at the Edakkal caves in Wayanad district, 450 km north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram, last week.

Archaeologists and historians are excited with the “unique” discovery.

“What is striking in the Edakkal sign is the presence of an Indus motif, which is rare. The jar is the same as the Indus Valley's. But the human figure is slightly different. This is where the influence of the Edakkal style really dominates,” said historian M R Raghava Varrier, who identified the sign during the excavation.

“The occurrence of the sign, which is the most characteristic symbol of the Indus script, is very significant,” he said.

Varrier said there had been indications of remnants similar to the Indus Valley civilization in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. But this new finding clearly establishes the fact that the Indus Valley civilization had its presence in the south, he said.